Editorial & Opinion, Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Potentially the luckiest day in 1,000 years is about to hit this Saturday, July 7.
If you are superstitious, or believe that seven is a lucky number, or can visualize a slot machine hitting three sevens, you may already be making plans to be at one of Ontario’s charity casinos this weekend.
If you haven’t already worked it out, the date will be 7/7/2007 or 7-7-7. Just seeing 7-7-7 written on paper I can see the lights, and hear the bells, chimes, and money spilling out of the slot machine.
I am not a gambler, nor do I frequent the local casinos other than for the occasional musical performance like MC Hammer or BB King. Having mentioned those acts you are probably already questioning my diverse and eclectic musical tastes, but I don’t think you can fault my logic on the following.
I feel compelled to stop by a casino and at least drop a couple loonies in a slot machine on Sat., July 7 – seven loonies to be exact.
Maybe I’ll even stretch that to seven draws on each kind of slot up to a dollar (five cents, 25 cents, 50 cents, $1). Adding up the damage I’ll be out $12.60, assuming that I don’t win at all.
I probably won’t extend myself to larger bet machines, because then it just becomes more than I would have spent at the movies and seems habitual as opposed to entertaining. Except that if there were a $7 machine, I might just have to give it a whirl one time (but I’ve never heard of a $7 machine – so I think I’m safe).
So what’s the harm in trying? This will be entertainment. I know my limits, and going into the casino, I’ve already decided what the maximum I’m willing to spend will be.
The worst that can happen is that I spend less than $13 while supporting the local economy and a variety of charities through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
My only wonder is why the casinos aren’t capitalizing on this in their promotions.
I checked the web sites and only see the “license to win” promotion that has been on TV commercials too. I even went so far as to tell a couple of casino managers the idea early in May, but maybe I should have called the marketing department.
So here it is – from my humble marketing opinion – you can be the judge.
Play up on the luckiest day in 1,000 years to generate business! Hand out some nicely designed T-shirts, key chains and pens that day, every seven or 70 minutes, or at 7 a.m., 7:07 a.m., 7 p.m., 7:07 p.m., to the seventh person through the casino doors every hour, etc. You get the picture.
The prizes could say just about anything with the word luck in it: get lucky, just plain lucky, feeling lucky, I’m lucky, it’s my lucky day, luckiest day in 1,000 years, all featuring a stylish 7-7-7 graphic. These prizes would be fun for the event, but also work well as walking billboards out in the community afterwards.
Yes, this would mean some prize design and ordering in advance in addition to buying radio ads, and a couple billboards, but I am confident the payoff would occur. Especially since new patrons, like myself, would be adding a minimum of $12.60 each to the coffers – covering the costs of prizing.
Thinking bigger, there could be big money draws associated with the day – escalating with time; $7, $77, $777, $7,777, . . . the sky is the limit. How many sevens and commas will the budget allow?
Am I alone here? Does this not seem like a really lucky, the-stars-and-the-planets-are-all-in-alignment, kind of moment?
Regardless of whether casinos choose to promote the event, if I remember the date on Saturday, I’ll still go to the casino, because if I don’t try, it could be a lot worse. I would just hate to walk around for the next thousand years saying: “shucks, I should have tried.”
If the day passes me by and I don’t make it to the casino, maybe I’ll just buy a lottery ticket – perhaps the most fitting would be a LOTTO SUPER 7?
Have a great day where ever you are on Saturday the 7th, and don’t forget to savour every moment in life like you’ve hit the jackpot.